Huw Marsh

The Comic Turn in Contemporary English Fiction explores the importance of comedy in contemporary literature and culture. In an era largely defined by a mood of crisis, bleakness, cruelty, melancholia, environmental catastrophe and collapse, Huw Marsh argues that contemporary fiction is as likely to treat these subjects comically as it is to treat them gravely, and that the recognition and proper analysis of this humour opens up new ways to think about literature. Structured around readings of authors including Martin Amis, Nicola Barker, Julian Barnes, Jonathan Coe, Howard Jacobson, Magnus Mills and Zadie Smith, this book suggests not only that much of the most interesting contemporary writing is funny and that there is a comic tendency in contemporary fiction, but also that this humour, this comic licence, allows writers of contemporary fiction to do peculiar and interesting things – things that are funny in the sense of odd or strange and that may in turn inspire a funny turn in readers. Marsh offers a series of original critical and theoretical frameworks for discussing questions of literary genre, style, affect and politics, demonstrating that comedy is an often neglected mode that plays a generative role in much of the most interesting contemporary writing, creating sites of rich political, stylistic, cognitive and ethical contestation whose analysis offers a new perspective on the present.

Who’s Laughing Now?

The Comic Turn in Contemporary English Fiction

Beryl Bainbridge is one of Britain's major post-war novelists. This study analyses Bainbridge's work in relation to some of the pressing debates in post-war literary studies. It frames Bainbridge's work within her life and times, describing her unique approach to fictionalising her own past and Britain's more distant historical past. Topics covered include Bainbridge's vexed relationship with feminism; her approach to comedy; her treatment of autobiography; her interest in myth-making and national tragedy; and her un-theorised yet subtly postmodernist views about history, fiction and memory. With generous reference to Bainbridge's peers, her literary influences and those influenced by her work, Marsh identifies the major phases of Bainbridge's career, contextualising each with material from Bainbridge's journalism, essays interviews and unpublished papers. Suitable or all readers of Bainbridge's novels and including suggestions for further reading, Marsh's book combines awareness of recent literary criticism and theory with accessible, contextualised readings.

Beryl Bainbridge

Alice Bennett

Nicola Barker

Ginette Carpenter

Eleanor Byrne

Len Platt

Ben Masters

Daniel Marc Janes

Beccy Kennedy

Christopher Vardy

Nicola Barker's exuberant novels here receive the scholarly attention they deserve in a collection of essays which moves chronologically through her oeuvre. The chapters are broad-ranging, placing Barker's work in its contemporary context and collectively making a convincing case for her importance as one of our most inventive novelists. Contents Foreword Nicola Barker The Barkeresque Mode: An Introduction Berthold Schoene Indie Style: Reversed Forecast and a Turn-of-the-Century Aesthetic Ben Masters 'Temporary People': Wide Open as an Island Narrative Daniel Marc Janes 'You grew up in this shithole, then?': Literary Geographics and the Thames Gateway Series Len Platt 'The Pair of Opposites Paradox': Ambivalence, Destabilization and Resistance in Five Miles from Outer Hope Ginette Carpenter 'Woah there a moment. Time out!': Slowing Down in Clear: A Transparent Novel Beccy Kennedy Beneath the Thin Veneer of the Modern: Medievalism in Darkmans Christopher Vardy Burley Cross Postbox Theft as Comedy Huw Marsh 'Tuning into My "Awareness Continuum"': Optimized Attention in The Yips Alice Bennett Exuberant Narration as Metaphysical Currency in In the Approaches Berthold Schoene The Pursuit of Happiness in H(A)PPY, or What a Difference an (A) Makes Eleanor Byrne Notes on Contributors Index

Critical Essays

Huw Marsh

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